The Rural Voice, 1988-01, Page 26PLANNING
ON
SUCCESS
Paul Long of Chatsworth bought his
first two sows from a neighbour when
he was 12 years old. Now 24, he
operates three barns, two in which he
contract -feeds pigs and one for his sow
to weaner set-up. "The only interest
had was farming," he says of his high
school days, adding that the theme of
his 12 -year success story is not only
"being as efficient as possible," but the
benefits of having "the help of good
neighbours."
L
by Cathy Laird
ate last summer, Jack
Westlake of the Grey County
office of the Ontario Ministry
of Agriculture and Food asked Paul
Long, a young Chatsworth pork
producer, to host 33 students from
Kemptville College. When asked why
he chose Long, Westlake answered:
"There are three reasons. One, he's
doing a good job. Two, he is the same
age as the students. And three, he's
using the beginning farmer program to
establish himself."
"Paul Long is a good hog producer
with a working hog operation of his
own," Westlake adds. "He has a sow
to weaner operation as well as feeding
contract pigs." So on September 9,
1987, the 33 students and three in-
structors toured Long's sow barn and
participated in a question and answer
period.
Long bought his first two sows
from a neighbour when he was 12
years old. "Ever since then I've had
an interest in pigs," says Long, who is
now 24. He quit high school at age 16
because "the only interest I had was
farming." His father, Gordon, had a
mobile feed service at the time and
was not using the family barn, so his
son began raising pigs. He started his
sow to weaner operation with seven
sows, selling the weaners and buying
open gilts, gradually building up to 20
sows. He sold chunks and breeder
boars to farmers nearby.
At the age of 18, Long rented two
farms in the area, moving his sows to
the bam on the first farm and using the
second farm to give him more land for
growing his own mixed grain. At the
same time, he began his contract pig -
feeding operation, feeding 400 pigs
yearly in the family barn. "A year
later," he says, "I purchased my first
farm through the FCC (Farm Credit
Corporation), which consisted of 100
acres and a large L-shaped barn."
After changing wooden stalls and
cementing inside the barn, he was able
to convert the building for his contract
pig operation. Two years later, he
sold the back 50 acres off that farm.
A year ago, he bought a neigh-
bouring farm of 140 acres and reno-
vated the barn for his sow operation.
He then purchased the crop land he's
been renting. And this past spring, he
severed land off the home farm, giving
him a total of 330 owned acres and 55
rented acres. Long now has three
barns in his set-up, two for his con-
tract pigs and one for his sow to
weaner operation.
Long has approximately 40 sows
in the sow to weaner operation. The
sow barn has 14 standard 8 feet by 5
24 THE RURAL VOICE